


Batman 2033 AD

by JediBatman



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Metro 2033 & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 19:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18239099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediBatman/pseuds/JediBatman
Summary: The year is 2013 when nuclear war breaks out. Batman and Alfred manage to save themselves in the last moment.Twenty years later, the only survivors in Gotham City are hidden in the city metro and Batman is the only one who can bring order in chaos.When a hidden bunker is discovered, Batman has to ensure its deadly contents will not fall into the wrong hands and kill the last survivors.





	Batman 2033 AD

Alfred Pennyworth woke up at six a.m, got dressed, had a cup of coffee, and went on to perform his duties for the day: dusting, cooking a meal for Master Wayne, entering the Batcave for some maintenance work, and analyzing recent criminal activity for his boss. 

Alfred Pennyworth was one of the few people in the world who know his master Bruce Wayne had the secret identity of Batman, the Dark Knight of Gotham City. Bruce Wayne had been Batman for more than fifteen years and Alfred had been his most important assistant from the beginning. From helping him design new gadgets to assisting him in his field operations, Alfred had always been there, always loyal, always offering his best.

It was that spirit of concern and loyalty that led Alfred Pennyworth in front of Bruce's room ready to open the door. Bruce's duties as Batman, the vigilante hero of Gotham meant he had to act during the night, and he seldom returned home before five a.m. To maintain himself Bruce Wayne needed six hours of sleep every night, which meant he would not wake up until eleven a.m. It wouldn't hurt to check how he was doing though Alfred thought.

It was seven a.m when Alfred stood in front of Master Wayne's bedroom and touched the handle … when the beeper of his belt buzzed. 

Alfred's eyes widened in surprise and fear. The buzz meant something important had happened, something terrible. What was wrong? 

Alfred took one big breath, then another, turned the handle, entered Bruce's room as quietly as possible, and looked at the bed. Bruce Wayne was there — thank goodness for that! — and was sound asleep. Alfred looked around. The room seemed in order, everything was in its place. Satisfied, he took another breath and quietly exited the room, closing the door behind him. 

Only two types of events would cause that buzzing sound. Either Master Wayne was in big trouble or something terrible of enormous magnitude had just happened in the world. Fortunately, there was a specialized application in his and his master's smartphone connected with his beeper via Bluetooth that scanned the internet for such terrible news. With trembling and sweating hands, Alfred Pennyworth picked the phone from his right inner coat pocket, turned the screen on and started reading.

“What the hell!” he said when he read the news, almost dropping the phone. Alfred looked at the phone again and reread the message. 

“This cannot be!” he said, in a louder voice this time. Wasting no time, he opened the door rushed to the bed.

“Master Wayne! Wake up! Master Wayne!” 

 

It had been a rather unpleasant night for Bruce Wayne. For starters, a date he had with a beautiful blonde had been a failure. She had been too snobbish and too rude. 

At about twelve o'clock, Bruce Wayne had returned to Wayne Manor to start his night as Batman. Unfortunately, his target for the night — a mob boss — had been better prepared for trouble than he had anticipated. He had double the number of bodyguards Batman had expected, and they were more heavily armed than he had estimated. He had taken seven shots to the chest and although his Batsuit armor had absorbed them, he still ached from their impact to his body.

At five a.m he returned to the Batcave and went upstairs to sleep. But before sleeping he remembered he had forgotten to inform Alfred about an urgent meeting with foreign investors at ten a.m. Dammit! He was hurt, tired, and he would only sleep for four hours to be on time!

In fact, he would barely sleep more than two hours during the night...

 

“Wake up! Master Wayne!” Was that a dream or Alfred really had shouted at him? If it was a dream it involved all of his senses because someone was touching his shoulder in a very violent manner. 

No, he was not dreaming. His butler was for real. But why? Had he remembered to inform Alfred for the meeting after all and Alfred was trying to wake him up?

“Master Wayne!” Alfred said, his eyes wide and his face in an expression of fear. The moment he looked at him, Bruce Wayne instantly woke up. Alfred would never wake him up like that for no reason at all. 

“What is wrong Alfred? Tell me,” Bruce said.

“The Big One Master Wayne!” Alfred replied. “We must hurry!”

Being Batman means among other things excellent reflexes. Within half a second, Bruce Wayne almost jumped from the bed to the floor. Both men started running for the library.

 

There was an old clock in the library that looked like a replica of Big Ben in London. It was one of the ones with a pendulum that made a sound every sixty minutes when the new hour started. It was also the place where Bruce Wayne and his butler Alfred had hidden the secret switch that opened the secret entrance to the Batcave.

Bruce pressed a hidden button behind the watch with his right index finger. The button had a fingerprint identification scanner and combined with the pressure of Bruce's finger deactivated an electronic lock behind one of the walls to the library. Alfred pushed the part of the wall and a secret passage opened. Both men rushed to the passage, Bruce still barefoot.

Bruce closed and locked the door to the passage behind them with a bolt while Alfred stood in front of another door with a fingerprint identification panel and a numeric keyboard. He put his right index finger to the panel until a light flashed green. Wasting no time, he typed the four digits needed to unlock the door in front of him. For this month the digits were in succession 1, 9, 4, 5. 

With a chill on his spine Alfred realized what the four digits symbolized. 1945, the year the first nuclear weapons were used. 

As soon as he typed them, the door opened and both men entered the small elevator behind it. There were two buttons on it. The first one was for ground level and the second for the Batcave that doubled as a nuclear shelter. Alfred pressed the second button. Bruce looked at him in a puzzled look.

“Look for yourself Master Wayne,” Alfred said offering his smartphone. Bruce Wayne took it, turned its screen on and read the message. He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and read again. The message was in capital letters. “THE PLANET IS AT WAR! NUKES EVERYWHERE! WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, PEARL HARBOR ARE HIT!”

Both men remained silent. None of them dared to ask whether Gotham City would be spared. Both of them knew it wouldn't. It was only a matter of hours at best.

 

As soon as the elevator stopped, both men rushed outside. Alfred activated the mechanical lock that isolated the Batcave from the surface, while Bruce undressed and started wearing one of the spare Batsuits available. 

“OK Master Wayne. We are safe for the time being.”

“Unless they fire a nuke against Wayne Manor,” Bruce Wayne replied. “OK Alfred, let's check what is going on.”

There was a powerful computer and Alfred switched it on. Bruce entered his login and password, searched the internet for major news sites and started reading.

“Nuclear weapons have hit Washington! The White House and the Pentagon are in ruins! The President is still missing! Did he survive?”

“Strategic Air Command Bombers in the sky!” another site announced, also offering a link to its commanding officer's Twitter account. “We are going up, we are attacking, and we are not coming back! God bless America!” The news site announced the Head of Strategic Air Command was inside on of the bombers to personally guide it to its destination.

Meanwhile, the situation was deteriorating. San Francisco, Houston in Texas, Tampa in Florida, New Jersey, Detroit, and Dallas … all of them nuked. How millions had already died? 

Bruce Wayne searched the internet for worldwide news. Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America … all of them hit by nukes. What had happened there? Had the world gone crazy within the last twenty-four hours? 

“Peking in flames! Shanghai hit by three nukes!” 

“Will anyone survive Master Wayne? Will they spare anyone?”

“I don't know Alfred. It is as if they want to spend all their arsenals.”

 

In another computer monitor, a map of the world appeared. The oceans and the seas appeared dark blue while the land appeared light green. Red spots showed the land areas hit with nuclear weapons. It appeared as if every major city on Earth had been hit. Washington, Moscow, Paris, Peking, … the dots were everywhere. In some areas like Central Europe, the United States Eastern Seaborne, and China biggest port cities they even formed clusters. These were the areas most hit.

The map on the screen was updated every minute. To their' horror, the dots increased after each update. Vancouver in Canada appeared to have survived for instance. But only two minutes and two updates later two red dots appeared on it.

Bruce Wayne used a computer mouse to focus on a particular area on the map and zoomed a few times to bring Gotham City into focus. No red dots marked it. Would their luck hold?

A sudden vibration knocked both men on the floor. Everything not bolted somewhere fell to the floor as well. Alfred fell on top of Bruce Wayne and his head hit his employer's right shoulder. 

“I am so sorry Master Wayne,” Alfred said trying to get up. A few seconds later both men were on their feet only to both fall to the floor again when a second powerful vibration occurred. Once more Bruce stood, then helped Alfred on his feet. 

Both men looked at each other, their eyes wide with fear. They stood there, motionless. They both understood, they both knew, they both only needed to turn their heads ninety degrees to see the truth. But none of them could bring himself to do it. 

“It's OK Alfred,” Bruce Wayne said. “Let's face the truth together.” Alfred couldn't speak, couldn't even breathe. He barely nodded and turned his head ninety degrees to his right while Bruce turned his head ninety degrees to his left. Both men were looking at the Gotham City map on the monitor now.

The map of Gotham City was covered with two big overlapping red dots, the unmistakable sight of a nuclear explosion. There was no denying it now. 

“We have run out of luck Mr. Wayne. Will anyone survive this?”

“Only the ones in nuclear shelters Alfred … and the ones in the subway.”

“The subway … how many people are inside it right now?”

“Not many I am afraid. It is still too early in the morning.”

 

The Gotham City Metro was one of the biggest construction projects in Gotham City. Created by Construct Inc, the Wayne Enterprises construction subsidiary, the Metro had one circular rail line that run under the perimeter of Gotham City center. The line was about twenty kilometers long and there was one station every one thousand meters. In addition, there were many underground tunnels for pedestrians that connected many parts of the city with the stations.

Dr. Lucius Fox, CEO of Wayne Enterprises had three major considerations when Bruce Wayne asked him to personally supervise the Metro construction process. One, the construction should be very sturdy and the main line and the stations should be as deep underground as possible because Bruce Wayne wanted the Metro to double as a nuclear shelter. Two, the construction should be of high quality to last for decades. Three, there would be a connection between the Batcave and the Metro plus many hidden areas where Batman could operate. 

Bruce Wayne knew the Metro offered many opportunities for crime from pick-pocketing to acts of terrorism. On the other hand, the Metro allowed Batman to move from one place of the city to the other using faster and without detection.

 

The red dots in the map kept increasing. It appeared as if every city with more than half a million inhabitants had been nuked. Who had started it and why? Was it a misunderstanding? Was it a powerful crisis brewing for a long time until it caused a catastrophe? Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth had no way to know.

“It is all pointless Master Wayne. We are doomed!” Alfred said in a whisper. Batman realized his loyal butler was sitting on the floor unable to stand up. There were tears in his eyes and he appeared catatonic. The magnitude of the destruction had hit him hard.

Bruce Wayne checked another monitor that showed a map of the Gotham City Metro with information about each station. According to the map all station doors were closed. He breathed a sigh of relief. These doors were made of reinforced steel ten inches thick and could withstand nuclear blasts. In addition, when thy closed the Metro became airtight and radiation-proof.

How many people had already died? Bruce Wayne checked internet sites around the world. To his dismay, most of them were gone. “Billions gone!” were the only words in one of the remaining ones … just a few seconds before its signal was lost. Checking the map with the red dots only showed him red dots everywhere. And as a reminder, the ground shook under him, the unmistakable sign of another nearby nuclear blast.

“What did we do?” It was Alfred's voice. He still was sitting on the floor, still sobbing.

 

Would there be more survivors in other parts of the world? Or would the survivors in the Gotham City Metro be the last ones? Bruce Wayne didn't know. 

Bruce looked at Alfred again, then back to the monitor with the map of the Metro. Thousands of people were trapped in it, and they would remain so till the radiation levels decreased outside, something that would take decades to happen. What would happen to them during those decades?

Bruce analyzed the situation. Human beings created laws, customs, and states to give order to chaos and help themselves improve their odds of survival and prosperity in the world. Now everything had fallen apart. The official authorities in the city like the mayor or the chief of police were either dead or dying. Even if they somehow survived, how many would still obey their commands? 

Why had Bruce Wayne become Batman? Because he wanted to help people fight crime when the official authorities couldn't or wouldn't. What should Batman do when the official authorities were either gone or about to lose their legitimacy to the eyes of the people? Would he sit on the floor and cry just like Alfred already did?

Batman did not accuse Alfred for sitting on the floor and crying The nuclear war had already caused millions of deaths, something even the most hardened people would find devastating. But apart from that, it also shattered a man's faith in basic human common sense and basic human goodness. 

“What have we done? Why did we become such monsters?” Alfred whispered. 

It would be so easy to sit on the floor and cry, Bruce Wayne thought. But Bruce Wayne hadn't become Batman because his default mode of action was passivity. He hadn't become Batman because he had lost faith in humanity. And last but not least, he hadn't become Batman only to abandon his fellow humans when they most needed him. 

Bruce Wayne looked at his reflection on a computer monitor. He was wearing the Batman costume, the one he had worn for so many years fighting criminals and helping his fellow Gothamites. He turned to face Alfred.

Alfred Pennyworth looked at Master Wayne. He looked at the man who had been his boss and also his best friend for the past thirty years. He looked at Bruce Wayne wiping his tears, steadying his body, picking up his cowl and putting it on. 

Alfred Pennyworth didn't need any talking, any explanation, any encouragement. He stood up, wiped his tears as well, and waited for his Master's command.

Batman looked at his trusted friend, a thin smile on his lips.

“Alfred,” the Dark Knight of Gotham said, “I don't know if there are survivors anywhere else. I don't know if the mayor and the police will maintain order. But I know one thing.”

“Yes Master Wayne?”

“The people down there will need help to survive till help arrives. And Batman might be their only hope.”

“It certainly looks that way Sir.”

“And Batman will need his best friend and the best butler in Gotham City to help him. Will you help me Alfred?”

“Till my last breath Master Wayne! Till my last breath!”

**Author's Note:**

> The story is a crossover between Batman and Metro 2033, the post-apocalyptic series of books. The main idea came to me when I read Metro 2033 and asked myself: "What would Batman do in the Metro after a nuclear war?"


End file.
